Page 73 of Protected By the Mountain Man

I froze, eyes darting to the glint of metal at his waist. A knife. My breath caught; my limbs turned to lead.

“Jesus, Owen, what are you?—”

“Quiet!” The word was sharp, cutting me off. “I won't hurt her. Not if you listen.”

“Okay,” I said, voice barely above a whisper, fear gripping me tight. “Okay, I'm listening.”

“Good.” He shifted Livy to one arm, and I tried not to look at the tears streaking her cheeks. I needed to get out of this before I got angry or panicked. “Just do as you're told.”

“Tell me what you want, Owen,” I said, keeping my voice measured. “What the hell are you doing?”

He frowned, the muscles in his jaw clenching as he spoke. “I tried to be nice about this, Kat. Tried to get you out of here without any mess. But you're stubborn. You just won't listen.”

“Listen to what?” My voice was tight, eyes locked on Livy's small form in his arms. I needed to keep him talking to buy time.

“About the ranch.” He shifted his weight, and Livy whimpered. “It should've been mine. Dad was the older brother. But no, Grandpa and Grandma left it to your dad. To you.”

“Owen…”

“Shut up,” he snapped. “No more talking. You had your chance. Now sign the papers.”

“What papers?”

“The deed to the ranch,” Owen snarled. “It was supposed to be mine, and now it will be. I’ll sell it and do what you couldn’t…then we can all go about our lives.”

“Owen, you don’t have to do this?—”

“Sign the papers,” Owen growled, nodding toward the table. Livy's eyes were wide, pleading. “Or I take her.”

“Damn you, Owen.” My hands clenched into fists, nails digging into palms. “Let her go.”

“Sign,” he repeated, chin jutting out. Livy let out a choked sob, his grip on her arm tightening. He was hurting her.

“Fine,” I spat. “I'll sign your damn papers.”

“Good choice.” His grin was manic, wrong, jarring. I wondered if he was drunk.

“Let Livy go first.”

“No chance,” Owen said. “You need to fucking sign, or I kill her…just like I killed her dad.”

The air whooshed out of the room. My heart stopped…then hammered.

I didn’t know why he told me—maybe to drive home the point. He wanted me to know what he was willing to do for this, how far he was willing to go.

“Ben?” My voice broke on my brother's name. “Why?”

“Because he wouldn’t sell,” Owen said. His was tone casual—like he was discussing the weather, not murder. “Do you know how much Everett Jones was willing to pay? When me and Nia got our cut, we would have been able to get out of this shithole town…but Ben was stubborn. I did what I had to do.”

It explained everything; I felt blind for not seeing it before. Tears threatened, but I blinked them back.

“So this was all you?” I asked quietly. “The guys who attacked us…the barn fire? It was you?”

All he did was sneer as he nodded at the papers again. “Sign, Kat. Then we can put this all behind us.”

Shaking, I scrawled my name across the line, each letter an act of betrayal to Ben, to Livy. “There,” I said, shoving the documents toward him. “Take them and get out of here.”

Owen just stood there, looking down at the signed papers, a slow, cold smile spreading across his face. He didn't move, and that's when fear really took hold.

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